About the Campaign

Across the country, history is quietly being erased.

In March 2025, the Department of Defense began deleting tens of thousands of historic military photos, specifically targeting images of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ service members.

Weeks later, a new executive order pressured federally funded museums, including the Smithsonian, to revise or remove exhibits addressing racism, injustice, and oppression.

These are not isolated incidents. This is a coordinated effort to rewrite history. To erase the truth. To erase us.

Visual Truth Matters is a national campaign fighting back.

We’re exposing what’s happening. Mobilizing public support. And laying the groundwork to protect—and begin restoring—our visual history before more of it disappears.

This campaign launched from a viral LinkedIn post by a single voice and quickly became a full-time, high-impact movement backed by a growing network of volunteers, advisors, and strategic partners.

At its core, Visual Truth Matters believes in this:

When we lose our visual history, we lose our truth.

And we’re not letting that happen.

Our Mission

Visual Truth Matters is a living, breathing campaign founded in urgency and growing in real time.
We launched in response to an escalating pattern of visual erasure. Since then, the momentum has been undeniable.

Visual Truth Matters is a campaign focused on:

Restoring what’s already been lost

Protecting what’s still at risk

Defending what they’re coming for next

As a fast-growing campaign with urgency, we're responding by building powerful tools and strategies to fight back—some are live, while others are in development.

Here's how we're working to defend our American history:

Defend the Visual Record (action arm):

1. Strategic public pressure

From protests to petitions, we’re mobilizing supporters to push back against the erasure of our visual history—loudly, urgently, and in real time.

2. Tracking erasure as it happens (In Development):

We’re building a searchable public database to track government-led deletions, censorship, and visual purges—so these actions can’t be hidden, denied, or quietly forgotten.

The People's Visual Record (preservation arm):

1. Collecting the stories they're trying to erase:

We’re gathering photos, videos, and firsthand stories from military families, marginalized communities, and everyday people witnessing history unfold. Everyone has a story. Visit our Share Your Story page to contribute or learn more.

2. Building a living visual archive (In Development):

We’re creating a public platform to showcase these submissions—ensuring the erased, the overlooked, and the untold are preserved and honored. This will be a living archive of American history, told by the people who lived it, in all its complexity.

Meet the Founder

Michelle Riley is a photojournalist, longtime nonprofit professional, and founder of Lens for Change—a consulting agency dedicated to helping nonprofits and advocacy groups tell the truth with power and integrity through authentic visual storytelling.

When Michelle learned that the Department of Defense had deleted more than 26,000 historic military images, she took to LinkedIn to speak up.

The response was explosive. Her post went viral.

What started with one voice is now a movement. The campaign was born. The momentum grew. And the need for action was undeniable.

Since that moment, Michelle has led the charge to:

  • Raise awareness about the DOD photo purge and its broader implications

  • Build a national grassroots campaign to fight back against visual erasure

  • Engage key stakeholders to help preserve our visual history (in progress)

  • Begin rebuilding a people-powered archive of erased stories (in progress)

  • Explore ways to track government-led deletions in real time (in progress)

Her message is clear:

"If our institutions won’t protect the truth, we will."

And that’s exactly what this campaign is here to do.

This is a fight for memory, accountability, and protecting American history. The record of who we are should not be rewritten behind closed doors.

Visual Truth Matters is a nonpartisan, grassroots campaign powered by urgency. It is led by Lens for Change, a consulting agency dedicated to ethical, authentic visual storytelling.

We exist to defend the truth—because every democracy depends on a complete and honest record.